The Best Branding Agency
Spoiler: It’s Not What You Think
Design isn’t a competition (so awards shouldn’t matter). Finding a branding agency is really about finding the right creative partner for your business.
You’ve decided that you need the help of a branding agency and so you began searching for lists of the best in your area and/or industry. You’ve gone through these lists, clicking on each recommendation and waded through tons of portfolios, glam and polished and plain and passable.
Then you’ve gone through a dizzying permutation and combination of key buzzwords on mission and vision pages promising things like “meticulous design”, “transforming culture”, “cultivating emotional experiences”, “creating impact” and “inspired story-telling”.
By now, you’ve seen impressive trophy shelves dotting some of these pages and everyone promises exceptional work. You can keep scrolling and searching but it’s likely you’re no clearer on which agency is the right one for you.
So, you make a shortlist of which agencies seem to have aesthetically pleasing work, or the ones with the most experience and then you set out to call them and get estimates. The truth is though, you’re probably still confused and dread wading through multiple calls and meetings to find some clarity. Why? Because the starting point was all wrong.
There is no ‘best’ in the world of branding!
Sure, you can glean some truths from portfolios but they show you visuals not the process that led to them, nor the strategic thinking involved, nor the kind of chemistry that needs to exist between you and the design agency you’re setting out to work with.
5 things to look for in a branding agency:
(Prefer the judgy approach? Skip to the 5 Red Flags below)
1. Strategy-Centred Process
A good agency will introduce you to each phase of a defined process. Methodology matters far more than past industry experience.
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Do they have a clear step-by-step process outlining a discovery session, market research phase, brand strategy and positioning workshops, design stage followed by rollout?
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Is the process focused on understanding your business, its goals (growth, differentiation, engagement) and their connection to branding outcomes?
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Are they able to articulate how design choices relate to strategy?
2. Compatibility and Chemistry (yes, this is kind of like dating!)
Branding your business is a process that involves emotion and ideation. It should feel like you’re beginning a meaningful relationship. Gauge chemistry and trust your gut.
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Is the branding agency listening to you well? Are they asking deep questions and showing you they understand your needs?
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Are they sincerely interested in your business?
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What about their values, their tone, and their working style? Does it resonate with yours?
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Does communication flow – do you feel seen and respected?
3. Communication and Collaboration Skills (yes, yes, more dating parallels)
Your main point of contact comes across as articulate, responsive and easy to both talk to and understand. Clarity of thought is reflected in clarity of speech.
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Are they clear communicators in their use of language, the ability to explain processes and while setting expectations?
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Is there a strong point-of-contact who will lead your project?
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Is the branding agency transparent about deliverables, timelines, scope of revisions and space to collaborate?
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Are they honest about their experience and their limits instead of selling you the “we do everything” pitch? No single website design agency can do it all. If they claim they can, cue in skepticism.
4. Quality of Portfolio and Experience
A strong track record shows you the thinking behind the work.
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How diverse is their portfolio?
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Does it show depth or merely aesthetics? Does their style suit yours and if not, do they seem adaptable?
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Have you received recommendations for them from previous or current clients?
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Do they profile their work with detailed case studies that discuss outcomes too?
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Is the branding agency’s own brand compelling? How do they show up online and is the self-branding thoughtful and consistent?
5. Integrated Services
The right partner takes you from strategy to execution across all channels
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Are they just a design studio or do they offer strategy and thought leadership ?
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Are communication services handled in-house – copywriting, content strategy, verbal identity, brand voice?
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Can they carry the brand across various touchpoints – web, social, packaging, print and if necessary do they partner with others?
5 Red Flags When Choosing A Branding Agency:
1. They promise you 10 logo options at the end.
This tells you straight off that the agency lacks confidence and that strategic clarity is not in store for you with them. When you receive pure visual output, with no explanation of the thinking behind the design, it’s a clear sign that your brief was not understood. Strong agencies will use a comprehensive understanding of your needs to narrow things down for you.
2. They are not genuinely curious about your business.
A lack of interest in your business goals, your market, your context, no questions about your purpose, no discussions about why you’ve decided to focus on branding – all glaring agency failures. Branding IS business strategy. If you’re just being asked about what colours you like, run and run fast.
3. They are vague about process, timelines, cost structure and revisions.
A lack of transparency ought to inspire immediate distrust. They want to jump right into design without discovery or strategy. They can’t delineate a process of worse, there isn’t one. They say things like, “Just trust us” without any structure or timelines.
Expect pain down the road and rude surprises in this scenario.
4. Quality of Portfolio and Experience
All their work looks or feels the same. Sometimes branding agencies do have a design niche but it’s up to you to judge whether this stems from a philosophy or whether you’re looking at a one-trick pony. You’re looking for a partner not a branding factory. The other obvious warning sign is if their own branding is weak, outdated and inconsistent. If they can’t design for themselves, they can’t design for you.
5. Integrated Services
You’re not sure who is doing the work or who your point person is. Maybe you’ve been speaking to a slick founder but who will be working on your project ? Who is the Strategist? Designer? Writer? The language in meetings or in proposals is vague, fluffy or super salesy. Maybe they promise overnight results which means they’re skipping the fundamentals or they underprice which means your work will be rushed and hasty. The proposal lacks specifics or clear inclusions and exclusions and you’re being pushed to sign quickly.
Before you begin calling agencies, know your starting points.
A good agency will help you refine these but to begin with, here are 3 things you can pen down:
1. What are you looking for?
Define your branding objectives so that you know what to look for in an agency. For example, do you need a full rebrand or a refresh, do you need to create your branding from scratch or launch a new product line, maybe you’re just looking for strategic guidance?
2. What’s your budget range look like?
Professional fees in the industry can vary dramatically, so having a cost range in your mind can go a long way to steer productive conversations.
3. What’s a realistic timeline?
We all want things to happen as fast as possible or even yesterday, but branding follows a creative and iterative process, attention to detail and refinement requires time and prototyping. Know what’s a reasonable timeline for your business and asking the agency to provide a project management breakdown is ideal.
4. What are your values and goals?
Brand discovery sessions will begin with asking you to lay these out.
As you can see, there is no single answer to what constitutes the ‘best’ in branding work. Unlike in advertising, there aren’t clear metrics (campaign outreach, sales figures) to measure branding success against. The flashiest work or who has the most awards aren’t valid indicators when you search for an agency.
